New Baby for Christmas

Ok finally getting around to tending to the blog. I know it’s been a long time! It hasn’t helped that our digital camera is acting up… anyway….first the biggest and most exciting news as far as I’m concerned is that Madeleine Vaila Armstrong entered the world on December 23rd just on time for xmas. Now Beth and Nick have two wee girlies…yeah!



It is actually xmas morning here in Colorado Springs as I write and it’s a very quiet one for us as this is the first year with no other family(or Friends)… We miss you all…

So the real reason I’ve neglected the blog (and my children) is that I’ve been knitting like a maniac for the festive season. I think I must have made about 20 + items this year….actually I’m not done and owe a few more!
So I had to show off some of my hard work….I’m especially proud of the Flamingo which was for Molly and Beth’s commissioned Diaper bag…..thanks for holding on there Madeleine until the diaper bag got to New Zealand!





Other fiber presents were a laptop bag for David and a new pair of felted clogs/slipper things. However he discovered that the slippers don’t go that well with the skateboard (also a xmas present for David)…..should have made some felted knee and elbow pads! Even the cats are enjoying a felted mouse full of catnip!

So things feel kind of quiet right now especially as the college is like a ghost town with all the students gone for the holidays. David has a break from teaching for a couple of months so hopes to get started on the next book! He was very excited to get the Advanced reading copy of “Acacia” as a wee xmas present from his editor… Apparently someone has already done an advanced purchase on Amazon… 6 month early. They obviously know that the copies will be flying off the shelf!

Well it’s about time for a xmas day walk if I can extract the kids from playing with their new star wars figures!

Love to all family and friends out there!

Rafting the Colorado

We have just returned from a 3 day trip on the Colorado River. It was the kid's first overnight rafting and proper wilderness camping trip. Not that they did all that much actual rafting! Maya did have a few splashes with a paddle but was a little bit of a danger as she would let her T grip (the top part of paddle for non rafters) wave around. This is a big NO NO in the rafting world as it will usually end up hitting someone's nose! Thankfully that didn't happen.



I should mention that we did this trip through the college hence all the students in the pictures. It was a lot of fun to be part of a young group and they provided much attention for the kids. Several students came away knowing much more about Star Wars character than they had previously!
The kids and I did two days with one nght of camping on the river then the rest of the group headed into a harder whitewater section and all came through unscathed but pretty wet!


The setting was gorgeous...red rock canyons with wondeful markings and outcroppings and we had it all to ourselves...apart from a few Bald eagles! We were super lucky wth the weather having left behind a blizzard in Colorado Springs and headed into constant sunshine (very cold at night though).
Not the best photos but I had to keep my camera in a dry bag and didn't have the best access to it.



A muddy stop...the guides had the right idea of just removing shoes altogether instead of losing them in the mud!

Grand Canyon

The next point of interest was the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Well it was most definitely jaw dropping! First of all we were driving for a while through a very forested area (some big areas destroyed by fire) where we didn’t have any view of the canyon then as we got closer to the edge we would catch glimpses and a collective ‘wow’ would ring out from the car! We had a picnic right near the edge….actually the first spot was so near the edge that our food was in danger of being blown away so we moved inland a little.

We then took a walk out to a view point called Angel’s Window, an exposed piece of rock that sticks out into the canyon with miles of views all around. We tentatively ventured out and held on tightly to the kids!

Mesa Verde

Well we’ve now returned from our whirlwind tour and I’ve just put on 3 loads of washing!! Not that we did a lot of activities that involved getting dirty! We were mostly taking in the stunning vistas and diverse landscape from the car…with the odd wee walk here and there.

First of all we drove through southwestern Colorado into the San Juan mountains and stayed in the trendy mountain town of Durango…all outdoor activities imaginable…including a whitewater park right in town!


David also saw a mountain lion cross the road in front of our car …I only saw it’s rear end and tail disappear into the bushes….still pretty exciting though! Sorry no pictures!

The following day we went to Mesa Verde National Park to view the ancient (1400 years ago) cliff dwellings of the ancestral Puebloan culture. They built these elaborate homes into the cliffs which they had to climb in and out of using hand and toe hold trails cut into the rock.
We had a few options for tours and it was decided that Grandpa, David and the kids would go on the adventurous Balcony house tour which involved climbing a 32ft ladder, crawling through a tight tunnel and climbing up a 60ft open rock face with two ladders!! Mum and I opted for a more leisurely drive with short walks and views.

Peaks and Caps

Hello all,
Gudrun here this time! I guess Dad and I will be taking turns adding things to blog whilst they are visiting.
So today we hit a dinosaur museum where Maya and Sage purchased the dino's featured in photo! We are all trying to brush up on our dinosaur names as we play a lot of guess the animal in the car and include the extinct kind.....all desperately trying to outsmart the others!


The other big trip today was to summit the top of Pikes Peak ...a mere 14,100 feet! Well ok we didn't hike it but the drive was challenging enough...especially with me at the wheel!


A wee touch of vertigo as I drove up the outside parts of the road...it didn't help that Maya kept saying how scared she was and closing her eyes and that Sage pointed out how we could easily drop off the edge! Anyway we made it to the top and had a very quick photo taken as we were all finding it hard to breathe (half the amount of oxygen as at sea level).

We made our descent in low gear and I got the approval for good mountain driving from the ranger as he tested to see how hot the brakes were!


Here are the matching knitted caps!






Totally stunning scenery and the aspens were in all their glory!
We head off tomorrow for a five day trip around Colorado and also to Grand Canyon...will keep you posted.

Granny and Grandpa

We arrived late on Friday night a little delayed but Gudrun, David, Maya and Sage were there to meet us.

Colorado Springs is a relaxed college town, all leafy, broad streets, coffee shops and small shops in the centre. The campus, which we are on, stretches several blocks with parks and trees. The town is right at the edge of the Great Plains, up against the first of the uplands; Pike’s Peak at 14000 feet dominates the western horizon. We went west of the Peak on our first day to visit a fossil park with petrified tree trunks and had a slow stroll around some of the trails. In the distance were mountains so high I thought at first they were clouds. Naively I assumed that not far over those mountains was the Sierra Nevada, California and the Pacific, David said ‘no’! Looking at the map when we returned I could see that I had misjudged by about 1000 miles! This is a big country.

On Monday morning David invited me to his class where I sat at the back and was reminded of the great distance between 20 years olds and 60 year olds! They discussed the set passage … Andrea Barratt’s Ship Fever (most had never previously heard of her). Several thought it was old hat…. Written as long ago as 1995! Then they discussed a couple of their own efforts. They were great students though, the class was relaxed and David clearly had their respect … no doubt he was in charge … he’s a born teacher of creative writing.


So far it has been warm (70), dry and sunny … just the thing after a Shetland summer! On Tuesday morning I walked the mile or so to the centre of town to one of the two secondhand bookshops where I spent 2 and ½ idyllic hours and $70 on books for the winter when we get home.


This morning Mum and I walked back to the bookshop (via a coffee shop, hot chocolate and chocolate cheesecake) and found a book for Gudrun on the New Mexico artist Georgia O’Keefe that she admires … we can see why.


It’s a great place for the family, great apartment college town America, so close to the mountains and a wonderful climate. Maya continues to draw nonstop and I covet a couple of her pictures. At the moment she is writing (on a spare laptop) and illustrating a book on her favourite subject … cats. We bought a chess set so I am teaching then, although Sage seems to know the rules quite well. The only problem is that in his eagerness to take one of my pieces when I make a mistake he usually end up scattering all the pieces across the floor. You can see that he is enthusiastic, which is no bad thing. It’s great to be here with them all.


This coming weekend we are planning a trip of 5 days or so to the Grand Canyon and Utah! We’ll post some more news then.

Laughton and Patricia

Sand Dunes, Great Ones

Hello. Did a couple of interesting things this weekend, although strangely enough we managed never to have our digital camera with us when we needed it. On Friday we decided on a spur of the moment trip to Great Sand Dunes National Monument. It took about three hour to drive to, but it was well worth it.

We got there as the sun was setting, casting all sort of shadows across shifting sands. The wind was blowing something fierce, but it was fairly amazing to look out at this enormous, rippling mountain of sand, behind which rose even higher mountains of stone. It's very odd. The sand dunes were formed from sand brought down on rivers from the mountains that is somehow kept in a dune formation by winds that howl up from the other direction and then circle around in the bowl created by the mountains.

The wind carried on through the night. It sometimes felt like the tent was about to go airborne, but we had it well-pegged down. Thoughts of bears (an actual hazard in these parts) kept us all sleeping lightly (accept Sage, who we could barely wake even in the light of day). We only had the next morning at the Dunes because we had to get back to the city for a dinner party that evening, but we did what we wanted to. Got a taste of driving off road down windy, sand and rock trails. Then parked and took a hike to the Dunes. We climbed as far as we could, getting pelted by blasts of sand that got into every crack and crevice. It was like a short sampler of life in a chilly Sahara. A good workout to at the altitude, something like 8,000 feet. Anyway, great stuff. We took some photos the old fashioned way, so hopefully we'll eventually be able to get them on to here.

Got home in time for dinner and then on Saturday... Well, I was suppose to go kayaking, but that didn't work out this time around. So instead we went out to Red Rocks Canyon, which is park that's essentially in town. Took our bikes and rode the paths. Lots of different mountain bike trails, most winding through red sandstone formations. Quite a few climbers in evidence. All together quite pleasant. Sorry not to have photographic evidence. We left the camera in the car!

Canyons, rivers and rock formations

So we have also taken some drives into the mountains and been wowed over and over…these Rockies just go on and on and offer incredibly diverse scenery. We did get out for a wee hike our second day here but at 10,000 feet our bodies weren’t quite ready for it……the city is at 6000 feet so even that took some getting used to!
We did do some off road with the car though which was kind of fun…not exactly off road but dirt road…we did meet plenty of other vehicles doing proper off road stuff through rivers and up steep rocky things!! Not my cup of tea!

Some of our pics are of a climbing area right here in town called Garden of the Gods (the pics of all the weird shaped sandstone rocks).


We also went to this gorge with apparently the world’s highest suspension bridge…we just looked from the side of the canyon cause of course they want money from you to go across!






We also found the river…...the Arkansas…..miles and miles and miles of all sorts of levels of whitewater ……David was of course salivating…so we hit the Kayak store and he talked boats with a young dude who laughed at how outdated our boats are now! We even found this cool little mountain town with a whitewater park in town……

That should bring you up to date for just now I think! Visitors welcome!

Kayaking and climbing

David is planning his first kayak trip on Sunday…hooking up with the outdoor group here at the college….he’s also taking the kids to the climbing wall this evening so they can try out their new harness….
Maya has already been practicing by climbing the walls in the apartment…not kidding! I shall be singing while this is all going on as I’m joining the college choir…..also hoping to set up some private voice lessons with the music department.
So “it’s all good” as my friend Jenn likes to say! Something for everyone! David is even enjoying the teaching side of things and fairly impressed with the competency of his students. The kids and I got to meet them as they all came for dinner last night…a nice bunch……Sage got a few light saber duels out of them and some games of Rat a Tat Cat our favorite card game these days. (For you brits out there..yes I know ‘favourite’ should have a u in it but seeing as I’m using an American laptop it underlines it in red when I spell it that way!)

Sage displaying his new Colorado College hockey t-shirt

Storms and Sunsets

On our approach to our final destination, actually about an hour before we got here, we headed into a huge storm and after sitting in the car at the side of the road being whipped by the wind and surrounded by gigantic lightening strikes we retreated to a motel 10 mins back down the road!



Not the best pictures to truly represent the enormity of this storm...doesn't help that the dashboard got reflected with the flash!





The next day we made it to the Springs but still didn’t see the mountains till the following day........which is kind of amazing as they are right here and pretty dominating as we saw when we woke up the next morning. They do provide an ever changing backdrop with the sun sparkling on them in the morning, sometimes a storm later in the day and then the sun setting behind them in the evening.

The view from our back windows

Let's see it's been about 10 days since we arrived and I think we're doing a pretty good job of feeling settled into college life. We are living in an apartment in an old building right in the heart of the campus. We have a huge space to ourselves...we can't even hear the kids when they are in their room and we're in the kitchen! I also didn't notice when someone appeared in our hallway thinking this was their apartment....not used to the notion of locking doors yet after years of rural living!.....
Apart from having to think of security we're finding it a lot of fun to be living in the city again. We can walk into downtown or bike and we can access lots of things right here on campus too. We all got college id's...even the kids....so we can use the pool, ice rink, climbing wall, tennis courts, catch a quick bike ride on the trail that runs for miles right outside the apartment…...hey just call us sporty Durhams! Speaking of which the sports fields are located out the back of our apartment so when we feel like it we can catch a soccer game! However it seems it’s the ice hockey team we have to support as they are number two in the country…..Sage already has his supporters t-shirt and can’t wait to go to a game…sorry Jamie…not quite a football supporter yet…you’ll have to persuade him on that one.